Special Interest Groups across the country are seeking to gain unprecedented access and control over the Tax Preparation Industry.
The additional $154 billion dollar stimulus legislation and a new unlimited funding mechanism from the Omnibus Appropriations Act enhanced in February 2009 is attracting a host of new special interest looking to gain unprecedented access and control over the entire Tax Preparation Industry. Using the same consistent press releases throughout the country special interest groups seeking to exploit the tax industry are driving a propaganda campaign to tarnish the image and business of every independent tax office owner in the country. Many of them are using funds granted to them by Congress in 2007 to improve their own accuracy rates, which in 2006 denoted Volunteer Tax Assistance sites as having a 36% accuracy rate, to attack the private business owners operating in the tax industry. The Grant Programs passed in Congress during 2007 were initiated to provide additional funding to the VITA program so they could significantly improve their history of inaccurate tax returns. Now many are exploiting these programs to help them attack the private tax office owners in an all out attempt to pass unprecedented regulations, sanctions and licensing fees in various states across the country.
In Alabama one such group set out on a yearlong crusade to destroy the image and business of independent business owners in the state while at the same time attempting to pass their own Legislation that would have provided them the ability to use fees paid into the states licensing board to enhance and promote their own tax operations. The Omnibus Appropriations Act now provides an unlimited amount of funding to these groups and the desire to gain access to millions in federal funding often times leads those who initiated with good intentions to become greedy and controlling. In this case, the group went so far as to misrepresent their own facts and findings from an internal investigation attempt. Posing as taxpaying citizens, using fake social security information they went to different tax offices in the state and without filing the actual tax return they paid for printed copies that were not completed. They then used a former political contributor and close friend as a CPA who supposedly completed the same return and later claimed that all of the other returns printed were inaccurate. When confronted with the facts of their fraudulent fake investigation they quickly removed the information from their public website. A complete review of the returns would have shown that their own CPA actually failed to complete the Stimulus Recovery Credit thus making their own return less accurate than those completed by the Tax Offices they attempted to defraud.
NITPA defeated this special interest attempt to control the industry through the passage of its "Alabama Taxpayer Protection & Assistance Act" a legislative act that was nothing more than an attempt for the group to control the industry and benefit from the fees paid in by private business owners. Like many legislative proposals they're branded with wonderful titles and seemingly seek great public intentions however when you read through the fine print you begin to see the real story and the real intentions behind the legislation and those proposing it.
The National Independent Tax Preparers Association was founded in Alabama by a group of Independent business owners authorized by the IRS to provide E-File services in the State. NITPA defeated the special interest's attempt to control the industry in Alabama and continues to support and defend the interest of private small business owners who operate in the E-File industry. A special awareness meeting is planned in Birmingham, Alabama for industry professionals who operate tax offices in the State. For more information please visit www.nitpa.com.
